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Here is our latest newsletter for February 2010 Dear Friends and Partners,
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This month the newsletter is running late, but we wanted to wait until we had several important updates to share with you, so this will be fairly brief but still with some important news and prayer requests! First of all we want to share with you the exciting news that PASTOR H got married a few weeks ago in Punjab, India (see the attached photo). As you may already know, it is the custom there for family and friends to help find a good and suitable spouse for an unmarried man or woman, and so although the news came to us suddenly, it was not altogether unexpected – and we have been praying for God’s guidance for Pastor H in this matter for several years. We learned that an “auntie” of his has known Ruby and her parents (her father is a pastor) for many years and asked Pastor H to meet up with the family. Ruby speaks English as well as the local language and wants to receive training to be able to help Pastor H in the children’s ministry. After the wedding, they decided to move back to the city of Visakhapatnam (across the other side of India) where Pastor H was living in Andhra Pradesh before he moved to the capital last summer. His children’s ministry teams continue to develop many weekly clubs in that region, and also the adjoining states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa. All but $300 has now been paid for the registration of Pastor H’s ministry with the government, and so he can leave his accountant and ministry partners in Delhi to handle it. He and Ruby have already moved in to a small house in “Visak” and have been busy visiting the teams there and also ministering in mountain villages about 4 hours outside the city. Please pray for Pastor H and Ruby as they start their new life together, especially since it is so far from Ruby’s home. Pray that God will provide for their new home (Pastor H said they have 4 chairs although 2 are broken!) and for the remaining funds to finish the ministry registration.
MIKE has recently had several very successful meetings in villages on Mt. Elgon, Kenya (where there was such terrible tribal violence a year or so ago) and he has been invited to return to develop children’s ministries there, which is wonderful news since so many children were deeply affected. He has begun teaching another bible study at the local girls’ high school, and this week was asked to minister to the children during special week-long revival meetings at a local church. However today he e-mailed to say that since the main speakers will not arrive until Wednesday, he has been asked to preach the main revival meetings in the church after all as well! He often receives last-minute invitations such as this, and I believe God gives him special anointing because he has such a willing heart. Please continue to pray for God to keep Mike and his family well and healthy (just recently one of his twin girls was sick with amoebic dysentery – I can’t imagine how difficult it is to keep toddlers from getting sick there!). Please also pray for his elderly grandmother who lives some distance away and has been very ill (unfortunately she is not saved). Pray for the local internet “café” to be repaired soon as this greatly hinders communication, and PLEASE pray that the Kenya Electricity Co will connect Mike’s house to the electricity lines outside – he again visited the office (about 4 hrs’ drive away) and got NOWHERE although everything has been paid for about 14 months!!
PASTOR SIKA sent us a brief e-mail today after returning just last Friday from two weeks in the village. He shared both GREAT news and a SERIOUS prayer request. First of all, as some of you have already heard, at the end of January Pastor Sika “happened” to meet up with a local pharmacist/doctor. It was truly a “God-connection” as the doctor and his wife recently started a ministry where they want to do medical missions in the interior villages in Togo – but they did not have any contacts there! After several meetings where everyone rejoiced in how God had led them to meet up, the doctor was able to accompany Pastor Sika on a trip to Sika-Kondji, to take much-needed medicines and also start to teach the people some basic first aid and how to treat common sicknesses. Pastor Sika remained in the village another two weeks, supervising the plowing of the land in preparation for planting corn and peanuts again this year. We hope to share more, along with photos, next month. However as Pastor Sika was returning to the capital, he ran into many crowds of people demonstrating about the upcoming elections. There have already been violent clashes and many businesses and stores have closed down, with some people even planning to leave the city to avoid the violence. The elections there (as in other African countries) are complicated by tribal ties as well as corruption. Apparently the date for the election has now been postponed but the situation remains volatile. Please pray for protection for Pastor Sika, his team and all godly people who are praying for a just and honest government after many years of corruption and military rule. Pray that there will not be violent clashes during the elections, but instead this will be a turning point in Togo’s history. Please continue to pray for Pastor Sika’s recently opened church (Bethany Baptist Church), which is located in a Muslim neighborhood; and pray for good rain in Sika-Kondji so that the planting can get underway.
Once more we so much appreciate your prayers and support, and keep YOU in our prayers also! Gerald and Shirley
International Missionary Outreach Fellowship Inc. is a 501(c) (3) non-profit ministry and we can give a tax-deductible receipt at the end of the year for donations made out to IMOF Inc. and sent to us – please enclose a separate note stating if the donation is for the ministry in general or for a specific partner or need.
